Soaked Oat diet sheet? and general feeding advice please.

[Scunny]

Hi, I've just been catching up reading this forum and I'm really interested in what I've read about the soaked oat diet, but I haven't been able to find any specific about it (ie amount to feed and what with etc) apart from references to a fact sheet.

I have a 16hh TB mare who is a nightmare to keep weight on, at the moment she is on 2 large feeds per day consisting of speedibeet, AlphaA, Calm and Condition plus a good "glug" of soya oil.

She can be very stressy and although is much better now that we have a moved to a really nice 4 acre field she still windsucks when worried/stressed. She is also out 24/7 (rugged) and has a field shelter, adlib hay and we still have some grass left. She isn't currently doing any work as I have long term M.E. (was 60% recovered) and am in struggling with a relapse at the moment

Our other neddy is a rising 4 13.1hh *very* chunky welsh c gelding. He is carrying too much weight at the moment as when we moved to this new place in October we had tons of lush grass and he just pigged out

He has 2 *small* feeds per day of speedibeet and Molli Herbal, just so he doesn't think he is being left out as he is very riggish and bullies hell out of my mare if he is in a strop

(we are thinking of separating them but then they would be on their own and I know that that too would stress my mare :rollseyes )

If anyone could please explain about the soaked oats (sounds like when I used to breed birds years ago and soaking their seed overnight released enzymes and other goodies and helped to get them into prime breeding condition!) or point me to a URL for the factsheet I'd be very greatful

Thanks
Angela
PS both neds have their teeth checked every six months and are wormed regular.
There are photos of them both in the gallery at my daughter's site: Karina's photos

Ronnie's photos

 

[LEC]

What about trying Coligone? I have heard excellent reports on horses who will not keep weight on and I know several members horses who have ceased or cut right back on windsucking due to it.
If you want more info about it then pm Hs Mum and I am sure she would be pleased to help.
I feel this would be a more worthwhile thing to try than the soaked oats first just because you mentioned her windsucking and being stressy.
http://www.hbradshaws.co.uk/

Here is the Soaked Oats link
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1518289/page/0/fpart/all/vc/1

As for your little pony would it be possible to take his rug off? Natives are really well designed for cold weather and have slower metabolisms to cope with it. Maybe taking his rug off will make his body do what it is supposed to do especially if he has plenty of food and a full hairy coat?

 

[Maesfen]

Hello and welcome to the forum; hope you enjoy it!

It obviously won't suit all horses, it really is a trial and error test; it is also quite fiddly/time consuming and needing to remember to do it (something I'm quite good at forgetting, I have to admit!) so perhaps for someone with ME (my commiserations, I know how debilitatiing that can be at times) it could well be the straw that broke the camel's back some days so might be worth looking at a simpler approach perhaps as Lec said, Coligone could be worth a go or even adding Blue Chip to what you feed already, that sometimes helps a lot.


Here's a copy as it was sent to me! Hope it helps!



|
Oats Article
From: ChristmasFairy
"This is a diet I reccomend for all horses but especially for horses that are not 'doing well' or showing dietary problems like spots or sweet itch or just simply being 'hyper'. It suits all horses and is much more cost effective as well as healthier.

OATS are classed as both as a herb and a food, they are a strength-giving, low in starch but high in minerals. Also rich in Vitamin B, they contain alkaloids, glycosides and fixed oils which are an important source of vitamine E. They are a nerve tonic and bone building and contrary to modern day thinking, are the best possible feed for horses that are in work. The best way to feed them is soaked as explained here.

Soaked whole oats, soaked for 12-24 hours in cold water, this makes the oat a living enzyme again, which enables the horse to digest them more easily. Because they are now a living enzyme and easier to digested, the energy is released into the system quicker and without any build up of lactic acid, so no tying up, and also the horses hold their weight better, also as the starches are broken down easier it does not affect the temperment, also the benefits of soaking inclunde the fact that any chemical residue from sprays etc...are washed away, but not the goodness of the oat, also as vit E is in the outer husk of the oat, after soaking it becomes absorbable. The oats should be drained if possible overnight or for at least 1 and a half hours before starting to feed, and enough can be put up to last a whole day. If they are put up for example at 5 pm and drained at 5 pm the next evening, once a routine is established it is very simple, all you need is a hessain sack and a spare dustbin.

In light work I would suggest approx 2 to 3 lb of oats twice a day with alfalfa (weigh soaked oats not dry) and of course good hay. The amount can be increased gradually if and when work increases.

Carrots are excellent for the liver and the digestive system and full of calcium. Always make sure they are sliced sideways to avoid choke, another good vegetable that horses like is turnips or swedes, cut half a turnip into the feed trough twice a week to let them play with it, it is very nutritous.

The best supplement to feed in seaweed, one 15ml measure once a day, it is high in minerals and trace elements. It is rich in copper iron magnesium and phosphorus silicon and sulphur. The iodine content, which is a supreme gland builder and conditioner, reduces excess fatty tissue and removes toxic elements, along with iron which of course is premier importance to the blood, promoting oxygen absorbtion and building red corpuscules.

Alfalfa is classed as a herb cos it is very deep rooting, it is a rich source of calcium and also contains chlorine, magnesium, phosph.. potass.. sodium and sulphur..it is also rich in vits. It is high in protein, it is also a diuretic and more importantly it has 8 digestive enzymes in it which stimulate the digestive system, enabling the proper assimilation of the nutrients provided. It is a very good 'balancer' to be fed with oats, although it is a complete feed in its own right. To add to the oat diet add a double handfull mixed in with each feed.

Sugar beet, prefably unmolassed helps to keep condition on, it is also good for keeping bowels working, and is high in calcium.

A bran mash twice a week with a small handfull of epsom salts to keep their system clean, this has become unfashionable due to modern day nutritionists, however it is as good for horses nowadays as it was in the past. Cider vinegar internally, is good for them, an egg cupfull daily, this is also excellent used externally for any sore and inflamed joints.

Salt should be available, the best source is rock salt, not the man made licks but the rock salt that is dug out of the ground and many feed merchants sell it.

For those horses that need to put on weight or hold condition boiled barley linseed and flaked maize are all good fattening foods.

And finally but equally important is good quality hay. If you have to feed haylage for some reason than feed good quality oat straw to bulk them up.

I realise that this diet is 'old fashioned' and that the modern day nutritionists say that it is bad for horses, however, as it was all that horses were fed in the past, and the horses were far fitter, healthier, les colics, ulcers, hardly any sweet itch, fewer cases of tying up, fewer cases of fractures and bursting, far less cases of laminitis, it think the evidence speaks for itself, and I am confident that you will be delighted with the results, apart from the fact that it will save you a lot of money!!

For the best source of unmolassed sugar beet and Alfalfa contact a company called simple systems tel no 01371 870753 Simple systems also provide grass nuts and other beneficial feeds.

 

[Scunny]

[ QUOTE ]
What about trying Coligone? I have heard excellent reports on horses who will not keep weight on and I know several members horses who have ceased or cut right back on windsucking due to it.
If you want more info about it then pm Hs Mum and I am sure she would be pleased to help.
I feel this would be a more worthwhile thing to try than the soaked oats first just because you mentioned her windsucking and being stressy.
http://www.hbradshaws.co.uk/

Here is the Soaked Oats link
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1518289/page/0/fpart/all/vc/1

As for your little pony would it be possible to take his rug off? Natives are really well designed for cold weather and have slower metabolisms to cope with it. Maybe taking his rug off will make his body do what it is supposed to do especially if he has plenty of food and a full hairy coat?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to take so long posting, we have had visitors, blast this time of year lol

Thanks for the links :thumbsup

Coligone sounds like something to try, do you know how long a tub would last a 16hh though as it is quite expensive? when we first bought Karina my mare she was is a very bad way, very emaciated (see photos on link above) and the Bowen lady treating her suggested a Naff product (that I can't remember the name of!) for her windsucking, she had this along with pink powders for about 5 months, but although the PP did her the world of good after the first week her windsucking went back to normal.

She is much better now though, we are at a great place now, there are only 5 horses total and we have our own field for our 2 and she only windsucks after her feeds (if we distract her with carrots and she stops and goes to graze afterwards) or if the riggy little devil is chasing her when she isin season

Ronnie, the pony is unrugged this winter as we now have a well sheltered field and so far has been fine, although I was awake most of last night listening to that wind and rain and feeling guilty lol.

He was blood tested this spring by the vet and confirmed that he is not a true rig, but he was gelded at 2 and we suspect that the stud that we bought him from used him, they told us that he was going to be kept as a breeding stallion but had to be gelded as he was pining after the mares

He is lovely a sweet natured round people but a total pig around other horses

 

[Scunny]

[ QUOTE ]
Hello and welcome to the forum; hope you enjoy it!

It obviously won't suit all horses, it really is a trial and error test; it is also quite fiddly/time consuming and needing to remember to do it (something I'm quite good at forgetting, I have to admit!) so perhaps for someone with ME (my commiserations, I know how debilitatiing that can be at times) it could well be the straw that broke the camel's back some days so might be worth looking at a simpler approach perhaps as Lec said, Coligone could be worth a go or even adding Blue Chip to what you feed already, that sometimes helps a lot.


Here's a copy as it was sent to me! Hope it helps!
[snipped]

Hiya and thanks

I know what you mean about time consuming, we were adding a small measure of boiled linseed to her feeds and the jelly in it did seem to help her windsucking, but lately I haven't been able to get up in time to cook it every morning, so knocked it on the head rather than be hit and miss. However, I already have to soak beet (I know it's speedibeet but I still soak it overnight lol), and the oats don't need someone standing over them so I might give it a try.

Our Pony has sweetitch so hopefully this might help him too, I'm just a bit wary incase it blows his brains, heavens knows he's bad enough as is lol.

Up until the end of summer they were on Top Spec balancer, alphaA, speedibeet and TS Cool condition cubes for my mare, but after a year of that diet and looking fabulous on it I noticed a definite fall off in the condition of their coats and Karina was getting harder to keep weight on so I changed to the diet they have now and saw some improvement but not as much as I'd like. I don't know whether it was old stock from the feed merchants or if TS have changed the formula?

Thanks for posting the info

Angela